Randy Nyquist, who coached West Albany to three Class 5A football titles in the last seven seasons, is getting his feet wet as the new coach at Class 6A Oregon City this week.

The Pioneers began spring practices Monday with about 130 players. Nyquist will get a chance to see his players in live scrimmages in a camp at Linfield College early next week.

“That’ll be really good for us,” Nyquist said of the Linfield camp. “You can practice all you want, but I need to see how the kids react when the whistle blows.”

Nyquist is getting a good look at rising junior running back Conner Mitchell, who rushed for 1,842 yards as a sophomore to help lead the Pioneers to their first Three Rivers League title since 1996.

Nyquist, who coached two of the state’s all-time leading rushers in Anthony and Jake LaCoste at West Albany, is impressed by what he has seen so far.

“Conner Mitchell is a strong, athletic young man,” Nyquist said. “He’s a different type of runner. Conner probably has a little bit more wiggle to him than Jake. Jake was a big, get-on-his-toes, shoulder-square, downhill runner, attack you. Conner’s got really good lateral quickness and balance.”

Oregon City has another prolific rising junior in receiver/defensive back Trevon Bradford, who scored in a variety of ways last season, including kick returns.

“We’ll get him the ball more,” Nyquist said.

Having game-breakers like Mitchell and Bradford at his disposal is a huge bonus for the first-year coach.

“For kids that were sophomores and had the impact they had in the league they were in, as a coach, that’s a good thing to inherit,” Nyquist said. “They’re both playmakers. They’re both going to be important parts of what we do.

“They have the ability to make guys miss and turn a six- or eight-yard play into an 80-yard play. Another year in the weight room, and getting bigger and stronger and faster, will help those guys become even more explosive.”

It means Nyquist could add a few wrinkles to his playbook from his West Albany days.

“We’ll probably do a little bit more than what you saw at West Albany the past couple years,” said Nyquist, who succeeds Bruce Reece, the team's interim coach last season. “We’re probably going to see more sets and more formations.”

Nyquist said he has kept most of the coaching staff intact, with one notable addition in former Tigard and Linfield receiver Gunnar Cederberg, who will assist him with the offense. Bryan Swanson will continue in his role as defensive coordinator.

For Nyquist, the Oregon City job represents a return to the big-school classification. At West Albany, he went 31-34 in his first seven seasons in the state’s highest classification and 88-13 in eight seasons after the team dropped to Class 5A.

He will be tested early. The Pioneers visit West Linn and play host to Lakeridge in their first two games before making their Mt. Hood Conference debut against reigning Class 6A champion Central Catholic at Hillsboro Stadium in the third week.

“We can’t come out with our training wheels on,” he said. “It’ll be fun. I’m looking forward to the challenge. I’m excited about getting going. That’s why I came up here, to see if I could build another program and try to do it all over again.”